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Antique Relics From My Grandmother’s Basement

January 11, 2013 By Erin Spain 14 Comments

While I was in Indiana visiting family over the holidays, my grandma told me that she had some things in her basement for me to go through. She said it was stuff she’s had forever and I could take anything that I wanted. You see, it’s not just me – I come from a long line of hoarders people who hold onto things for their sentimental value. I’m very happy about this, because these family members know who to call when they’re looking to get rid of stuff. (That would be me, of course!) I went over to her house and was greeted by a kitchen counter full of fun vintage goodies to sift through.

Here’s what I came away with:

Lots of old coffee, tea and spice tins.

Vintage Tins

A few pieces of silver.

Antique Silver

And my favorite find, this wooden box.

Antique library card catalog box

Doesn’t look like much at first glance, and it definitely needs to be refinished or at least get a new coat of polyurethane. At first, I thought it was a recipe box of some kind. But then I took it home and opened it up to find that it’s actually a vintage library card catalog box. Someone got stamp-happy on the inside, and I’m actually very happy they did.

Vintage library card catalog box

The stamps are dated from the 1920s.

Vintage library card catalog box with dates stamped inside

For now, the box lives inside this cabinet in the office. It’s the perfect companion to my Card Catalog cabinet too.

Do you have any special family heirlooms or vintage hand-me-downs that you love?

Filed Under: Decorating, Family, Home & DIY Blog, Personal, Thrifting

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